THE CZECHOSLOVAK REVIEW | ||
Jaroslav F. Smetanka, Editor | ||
Entered as second class matter April 30, 1917 at the Post Office of Chicago, Ill., under act of Congress of March 3, 1879. | ||
| Vol. III, No. 11. | NOVEMBER, 1919 | 15 cents a Copy |
Political Events
On September 25 Edward Beneš, minister of foreign affairs, returned from Paris, after an absence of more than four years. In 1915 he fled secretly to join Masaryk abroad and to co-operate with him in a campaign for the overthrow of Austrian rule. In 1919 he returned as minister of the Czechoslovak Republic, bringing with him for the ratification of the National Assembly the German and Austrian peace treaties in which practically all the demands of the nation were realized. Naturally his reception by his grateful countrymen was magnificent; since Masaryk’s arrival in Prague last December no such scenes of enthusiasm have been witnessed by the Czechoslovak capital. Beneš is next to Masaryk the most popular man in the nation; he has not been identified with any single political party, but will sit in the National Assembly as a member of the Slovak Club which forms a part of the present governmental coalition together with Czech socialist block and Czech agrarians; and he has the confidence of practically all parties and factions.
Two days later Dr. Kramář also returned to Prague and also received a great welcome. On September 30 the two Czechoslovak delegates at the peace conference made their report in a memorable meeting of the National Assembly. Their speeches are quoted elsewhere in this issue. A debate then took place which occupied several sessions of the parliament; all the speakers lauded the work of the peace delegation and approved the views of the foreign minister as to the future lines of Czechoslovak diplomacy: fidelity to the Allies, cordial relations with the Jugoslavs, hope for a close understanding with Poland and Roumania and a square deal to former enemies, Germany, Austria and Hungary. While it was well known to all that Dr. Kramář would have preferred to furnish active assistance to those Russian leaders who were fighting the bolsheviki, the nation as a whole decided to keep aloof from all interference in Russia, especially as the Czechoslovak troops in Siberia made known clearly their desire to return home at the earliest possible moment. The nation owes too much to its sons who fought in Russia to send them against their wishes into further fighting. And no part of Beneš’ speech was more applauded than his statement that arrangements were finally made with the Allies to transport the boys in Siberia home.
The three treaties laid by Beneš before the National Assembly—the German peace treaty, the Austrian peace treaty and the special treaty with Czechoslovakia providing for the protection of national minorities—will be promptly ratified. No voice is raised in the entire Republic against the League of Nations. The one unsettled question is the fate of Teschen; and while the Czechoslovaks lost in their claim that this district belongs to the Republic by the same right, as Bohemia, Moravia or Slovakia, they feel confident that the plebiscite imposed upon them by the peace conference will result in their favor.
In connection with the return of minister Beneš a story was cabled to American papers from Vienna which furnishes evidence of the hatred which Vienna feels more than ever toward the Czechs. An American correspondent in Vienna was told by his German informants that upon the arrival of Beneš in Prague it was found that his personal baggage was stolen, and the moral of the story, as cabled to America, was that the Czechs cannot restrain their thieving proclivities even in case of a man who deserves so well of his nation as Beneš. It appears that such a report was published in one of the Prague papers, but
